The Serengeti is host to the annual Wildebeest migration, when some six million hooves pound the open plains, as more than 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelle join the wildebeest’s trek for fresh grazing.
The Serengeti Safari Park covers 14,763 sq km of endless rolling plains, which reach up to the Kenyan border and extends almost to Lake Victoria. The Serengeti Eco system also includes the nearby Ngorongoro Coservation Area. The park is flourishing with magnificent wildlife. An estimated 3 million large animals roam the plains. People of the Masai Tribe called it Siringitu – ‘the place where the land moves on forever.’ The Serengeti is known as one of the best wildlife sanctuary in the world.
Two World Heritage Sites and two Biosphere Reservates have been established within this area. It’s unique environment has enthused writers, movie makers as well as numerous photographers and scientists. The Serengeti ecosystem is one of the oldest on earth, the main characteristics of climate, flora and fauna have hardly changed in the past million years.
The Serengeti National Park boasts large herds of antelope including Patterson’s eland, klipspringer, dikdik, Zebra, gazelles, lion, impala, leopard, cheetah, hyena and other larger mammals like the rhino, giraffe, elephant and hippopotamus. Nearly 500 species of birds have been recorded in the park. The Serengeti is an opportunity for one of the best game-viewing in Africa.
The history of human inhabitation revolves largely around the history of the African people, from the hunter-gatherers who wandered the plains, to the people of today who protect it as a main destination for travelers. The Serengeti’s history has been virtually ignored, except Olduvai Gorge, where the Leakey family discovered fossils of human and animal ancestors dating back to almost two million years, and which is part of the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area.
Tsetse flies in the woodlands, and sleeping sickness, guaranteed that the Serengeti was spared of European settlement, and with it the extinction of the wildlife that other African countries were subjected to.
The Serengeti’s climate is warm and dry. The tropical rainy season is from March to May, with short rains from October to November. The Serengeti is lush and green after the rains, but a steady drying up follows which inhibits plant growth and encourages the animals to migrate in search of waters.
With altitudes ranging from 920 to 1,830 metres average temperatures vary from 15 degrees to 26 degrees Celsius. The coldest temperatures are experienced from June to October.
Serengeti is renown for the migration of animals. Every October and November, more than a million wildebeest and about 220,000 zebras travel south from the northern hills to the southern plains for the short tropical rains, and then journey west and north after the long rains in April to June.
The wildebeest migration, like a discernible thread, embraces and connects the Serengeti’s ecosystem much as it has done for at least two millions years. Every year, with some seasonally dictated variations in timing and scale, one million wildebeest leave the southern Serengeti’s short grass plains in search of the grass and water they need to survive.
During their annual pilgrimage they will travel some 2.000 miles devouring 4.000 tonnes of grass a day. A quarter of a million will be born, many will die. The animals’ ancient instinct to move is so strong that no drought, gorge or crocodile infested river can hold them back. The Wildebeest migrate through a number of parks, reserves and protected areas and through a variety of habitat.
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